The ultimate minimalist bullet journal for busy people

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You are about to see my actual bullet journal setup with mistakes and wonky lines throughout.

This is not just a bullet journal… This is the valued life minimalist bullet journal.

So let’s jump right in to why I need a bullet journal.

I am a very busy person, I spend a lot of time juggling:

Working 9-5:30 as a Project Manager
Studying counselling skills and life coaching
Managing a blog
Setting up a podcast
Participating in hobbies such as drawing, music lessons, reading, attending Toastmasters
Maintaining a social life (caveat: as an introvert)
Managing my health and fitness
Travelling

I am also a lifelong anxious person. I came out of the womb anxious so I feel like I have the knowledge and experience to write this guide.

I am not ashamed to describe myself as The Bullet Journal Queen, I HAVE to be organised or else everything falls apart. I’ve been bullet journalling since my 2nd year of university and before that, I was a Filofax lover.

My bullet journal is my shortcut to living a values-based life. It helps me to focus my attention on the things that really matter to me and cut out the things that are not relevant. I use my bullet journal as a space where I can dump my random thoughts and free up my mind for more complex tasks that require deep work.

So what is a bullet journal?

According to the Bullet Journal creator, Ryder Carroll, the Bullet Journal (BuJo) is an analogue organisation system that was initially used as a method to help him manage his ADHD.

The bullet journal is for everyone, and it can be as simple or creative as you want it to be. When I first started researching bullet journals I was overwhelmed by the artsy and complicated spreads that take hours to create. I tried and failed to copy the styles I saw on Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest. In the end, it resulted in me just giving up. When I eventually returned to bullet journaling I just stuck to the simplest layouts and didn’t stress when things got messy.

Okay, so what do you need in your bullet journal?

A notebook, ideally a dotted one. I use the leuchtturm1917 Medium A5 dotted journal
A pen. I like to use a black fine liner such as the Uni-Ball Uni Pin Drawing Pen 0.3mm Black Ink because it is waterproof and I am a clumsy person. You would be surprised at how many times I have spilt drinks in/on my bullet journal. So this pen has saved my life a few times.
A ruler. I just use a small Filofax ruler that I store in the back pouch of my bullet journal. You can honestly use any ruler or even a spare sheet of paper.

How to structure your bullet journal

When I first started my bullet journal I kept it super simple with just the weekly log and daily log. However, as I started to incorporate journaling into my daily routine, I was able to identify other needs that I needed to fulfil. I have included some of these extra spreads as optional sections that you can skip.

Index

This is the simplest page to set up because it already exists in the Leuchtturm1917 notebook. Yay! It is the contents page/ inventory for your whole bullet journal. I use this page mainly to keep track of my ad-hoc notes and core pages. For example, I added the page numbers for my music theory notes, bible study, and workshop notes.

The setup is pretty self-explanatory: add the page number and then add the topic/subject header for the page you want to log in.

Key

I’ve pretty much stuck to the official version of the key that Ryder Carroll created with some minor tweaks. I like to add the key at the start of the book just so that it’s easy to locate.

• task
X task completed
> task migrated (to next day, week, month etc…)
< task scheduled (in Google Calendar or future log)
~~task irrelevant~~
– notes (quick notes such as ideas, thoughts and feelings)
O event
* priority

Future log

I use the future log as a long-term planning tool that helps me manage key events, activities and tasks for the year. I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty much a calendar.

I split each page into 3 sections using vertical lines and then l label each section with a month. Afterwards, I list the days of the month in each section (e.g. 1 – 31). Also, because I am extra and a visual person, I like to add a mini-calendar view but that is completely optional.

Monthly log

I like to draw a calendar view of the month for the monthly log however you can just list the days of the month on one page.

Next, I split the bottom of the page into 2 parts: personal goals and work goals.

Week ahead (weekly log)

It is so important to plan your week in advance. Time flies quickly so you need to keep on top of your weekly tasks.

I start the page with my top 3 goals for the week.

Then I add my trusty simple personal and work goals layout where I dump every single task that needs to be completed in the week.

I like to sprinkle a bit of positivity into the mix by adding a section to log the things I am looking forward to in the week.

Habit tracker

Without my habit tracker, my life would be boring and depressing. Habit tracking is my favourite thing about my bullet journal. It helps me to make sure my life is balanced and not focused just on personal admin and work chores.

I break it down into 5 categories that are important to me: fitness, wellbeing, learning and creativity and music. You can pick any category you want but this works well for me and aligns directly with my core values. However, I don’t know why I decided to split creativity and music… I will need to sit back and re-evaluate my life now.

Daily log

I fill this out every single day and I make it part of my morning/evening routine. Here is the basic layout:

Intention for the day (e.g. To be productive)
Affirmation (e.g. I am good enough)
Bible verse – obviously you don’t have to include this. However, I find it a really helpful way for me to read the bible every day. If you’re an avid reader you could include favourite book quotes or inspirational/motivational quotes.
Then I add my personal and work goals using the key at the start of this guide
At the end of the day, I like to write a little summary. It used to be 1 sentence a day but ya girl likes to write essays so it is now just a day summary.
Gratitude log – I add a word or a sentence to highlight something I am grateful for. (I used to have a separate gratitude log but I honestly didn’t have the time to flick to another page every day. I kept forgetting about it).

Weekly review

At the end of the week, I like to reflect on what went well during the week and identify the things that didn’t go so well. This weekly act has honestly changed my life. It has helped me to become aware of the autopilot choices that I make and also has helped me with emotional regulation.

For example, if I have a bad week, I am able to make sense of it and move on without it affecting the week ahead. In the past, my bad week would turn into a bad month and then a bad year because my anxious brain would run wild with it.

When I first started I only asked myself a couple of questions but as my bullet journal routine developed so did the questions in my weekly review. By the way, you don’t need to answer all these questions, just pick and choose what you want.

What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
Did I reach my goals?
How do I feel about this week? (rated out of 10)
What lessons did I learn?
What key memories did I make?
What will I do differently next week?
Am I living in alignment with my core values?
Was there anything holding me back?
What am I spending too much/too little time on?

Monthly review

I also do a monthly review which is pretty much the same as the weekly review

Here are some of the optional spreads that I use in my bullet journal

Year goals (optional)

On the first ‘proper’ page of my bullet journal, I have a ‘year goals’ page. Where I include 5 high-level goals for the year so that it is fresh on my mind every time I open my journal.

Life Goals (optional)

On the next page after my future log, I like to include a bucket list. This helps me keep track of all of my life goals, big and small. At the moment I have 65 goals listed and I aim to reach 100. Some of my goals include things like visiting northern lights, doing tough mudder, and visiting 30 countries before turning 30 years old.

I’ve decided not to show a picture of my life goals… for obvious reasons.

Vision Board (optional)

If you have big goals, then having a vision board is handy too. I must stress that this is an activity I like to do when I have spare time and I am feeling creative.

I ask myself: what do I want my life to look like?

I use newspaper clippings, pictures from online, and photos printed from my Canon Zoemini 2 photo printer.

If you made it this far, you get to see my old spreads that didn’t work out.

I tried to draw a wheel of life to help me prepare my month ahead. It took so long to create and it was hideous so I never did it again.

The first month spread I completed was wayyyyy off the mark. It was ugly but I still used it and learnt my lesson for the next month.

My first attempt at a habit tracker was a fail as well. I tried to track it on a monthly basis but honestly I’m too busy to flip back to the monthly log every day. Now I just bundle my week ahead page and habit tracker page together so it’s easy to access.

I think it is so important to highlight that your bullet journal doesn’t need to be perfect. Make mistakes. Identify what works and what does not work. No one needs to read your bullet journal, it is just for you.

A bullet journal would’ve been especially handy for me when I was studying my A Levels (check out: .Failing my A Levels changed my life for the better).

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The ultimate minimalist bullet journal for busy people

So what is a bullet journal?

Okay, so what do you need in your bullet journal?

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